MERRILL PALMER SKILLMAN INSTITUTE for Child & Family Development mpsi

MPSI IS PART OF THE DIVISIONIm OF RESEARCH AT WAYNE STATEP UNIVERSITY,r ,ints MI SPRING 2018 A Work Day Full of Smiling Faces They call her Mrs. K. Jamie knew from an early age she She buzzes them through wanted to work with children. She earned the door weekday morn- a B.S. in elementary education and an ings, some sleepy eyed, M.Ed. in early childhood education from others bunny hopping, Wayne State, with endorsements in and all happy to see her. language arts and early childhood. She These expressive little people are her chil- presents at professional development con- dren, the 60 or so three, four and five-year- ferences and workshops. She also prepares olds of the Early Childhood Center (ECC) at the next generation of early childhood Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute. educators as an adjunct faculty member at Mrs. K., short for Jamie Karagatsoulis, has Baker College, yet another hat. greeted children at the center since 2009 Positive changes mark much of Jamie’s when she started as a lead teacher. By 2011, time at the ECC, including accreditation she rose to assistant director and by 2012 from the National Association for the to director, helping to lead the ECC to its Education of Young Children (NAEYC). highest ratings and accreditation. With Executive Director Anna Miller, M.Ed, who success comes sacrifice. “I do miss being in oversees both ECC’s on Wayne’s campus, the classroom and directly involved with the was instrumental in successfully navigating students,” she said. “But as the director, I the complex process. Jamie was involved help with lesson plans and deciding what in the accreditation process twice, first as projects the children work on. If teachers a teacher and years later as the director. are stumped, we brainstorm ideas. It is a NAEYC requires accredited centers meet balancing act. I call it the many hats.” See page 2 Better Classroom Experiences for African American Youth Olivenne Skinner knows mately 150 from personal experience that high school freshmen and all schools are not created “It was clear to me that my school sophomores. Students will equal. She grew up in a low complete online surveys income community in New was failing to adequately educate a lot about their experiences in York, traveling more than an of students who looked like me . . .” math and English classes over hour each way to attend a _ Dr. Skinner 15 school days. These classes high school that could chal- are traditionally gender typed lenge her with honors and domains. “I’m interested in advanced placement classes. A diverse mix who looked like me, but I didn’t understand knowing how girls’ and boys’ experiences of students attended – Asian, African Ameri- the systematic nature of educational dispari- differ in these courses, and how their race can, Hispanic, white – but only three African ties at that time.” and gender identities might shape their Americans took the honors and AP classes. Dr. Skinner came to MPSI from Penn State experiences,” Dr. Skinner said. The daily “Me and two other girls,” Dr. Skinner said. to complete her post-doctoral fellowship. diary design will deepen understanding of “It was clear to me that my school was fail- Her research project, Youth’s Experience in academic engagement, because it captures ing to adequately educate a lot of students School Study (YESS), will include approxi- See page 4

News & Honors | PAGE 3 Share Memories | PAGE 4 Freer House | PAGE 5 Help a Teen | PAGE 6 mpsi

and team building. It Smiling from page 1 Parents Tips: How to Find a High Quality Preschool Program was amazing to see.” more than 400 crite- This rich professional ria, observing class- development exercise is the key rooms for evidence. Play will translate to the to learning! Young “The first time we children learn by classroom in ways pursued accreditation engaging in hands-on that allow children to was challenging,” activities. The more express themselves Jamie said. “We didn’t actively engaged creatively and think the children are, the really know what to independently. High-quality programs more they can make Watch the interactions expect.” They worked Jamie’s final hat is a scaffold learning. Teach- connections to build between teachers and on their interests and hard and did well. ers build on base information children. Do teachers look helmet -- an ice hockey expand their knowl- Both ECC classrooms relaxed and welcoming? helmet -- as she learns to progressively move stu- edge base. ranked high under dents toward greater under- Are children engaged and the game her husband observation, with standing and independence able to express them- and son love. Six-year- selves and be heard? Jamie’s classroom in the learning process. They old Khristos is a natu- Teachers help children provide materials and experi- meeting 95% of the feel safe, cared for and ral; he plays on the criteria. The ECC also ences that stretch children’s secure. Children who feel Belle Tire travel team. carries ’s thinking, and set individual cared for and safe can Jamie’s husband Steve highest 5-Star Great goals based on the child’s learn and grow across all played semi-pro until age and development stage. Start to Quality rating, developmental domains. he broke his ankle in one of only four such college but still plays preschools in Detroit. recreationally. Jamie’s been more of a dry Learning Never Stops Donning the director’s hat at the ECC land girl, running several half marathons means managing a diverse group: teach- Jamie’s top priority is making sure her but rarely ice skating. So for Christmas, her ers, student assistants, parents, grandpar- staff is caring and qualified. “We have a husband bought her hockey gear and en- ents, administrators, and of course the good team of dedicated professionals who rolled her in a beginner’s league. He joined children. “I stay open to everyone’s side collaborate and work well together,” she her for the first session and the league of the discussion and pull out the impor- said. Regular training is the bedrock on signed him as a coach. “Imagine being tant issues. Then we work together to find which success builds. A recent staff train- coached in ice hockey by your husband,” the best solution.” Listening may be the ing explored STEM learning. They collabo- she said smiling. “My skating has definitely most critical skill. “Parents have so many rated to create a new juice, using fruits, improved.” pressures and stressors. They often need hand-held juicers, plastic bags, measur- Directing a high quality early childhood someone to listen to them,” Jamie said. “It ing cups and cutting boards. “A simple center requires knowledge, patience, might not even have to do with the ECC, problem,” Jamie said, “but it generated so compassion, joy and more patience. Some but I’m happy to be the person they can much open discussion, creative thinking students have challenging behaviors. Some talk to.” need social emotional support counseling. The past decade has brought other Others need accommodations for hearing changes to the preschool environment. loss or autism spectrum disorders. The ECC Technology is ever-present in children’s partners with families to ensure children lives, so the ECC puts care and thought receive the services they need, including into its use in the classroom. IPads enhance therapy from WSU’s speech and language learning, for instance, by connecting chil- department. All children are offered a lan- dren to people and places they can’t easily guage and hearing screening to determine access. “This semester a parent is traveling need; students receive services during the overseas. Our teachers are planning Skype school day. Parents have the ease of know- sessions to incorporate this parent’s rich ing their child is getting extra support as travel experiences into learning for the chil- part of the normal school routine. dren,” she said. The ECC uses technology “We have such a rich community here at to project enriching scenes, like a campfire the center. We are a wonderful melting pot and burbling brook on the wall as the chil- of cultures, diversity, friendship and fun. I dren pitch tents to “camp.” As Jamie says come in every day with the attitude that it’s in her tips, play is the key to learning. Use going to be a great day,” Jamie said. “And From left: Jamie, son Khristos, husband Steve technology to ignite other forms of play. it always is.”

2 www.mpsi.wayne.edu mpsi

NEWS & HONORS

Support for Adolescent Sexuality Re- Right on Track –Tenure track, that is. MPSI search – Davia Steinberg, a MPSI fellow postdoc Dr. Marion van den Heuvel, will re- and clinical psychology graduate student, turn to the Netherlands this spring to accept won a grant from the International Society an assistant professor tenure track position in for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health cognitive neuropsychology at Tilburg Univer- toward her dissertation research. Davia is sity. Dr. van den Heuvel achieved much dur- working to understand the onset of “sexting” in adolescent girls. ing her time at MPSI. She contributed to more than nine papers, Sexting is sending sexually explicit photographs or messages via mentored several students, submitted a competitively scored NIH mobile phone. Davia also won WSU’s award for best Graduate grant, and helped design a childhood assessment. Goed gedaan! Student Research Poster last fall. A State Plan for Early Childhood – Mich- How Memory Functions and Malfunc- igan’s first Early Childhood Policy Summit will tions – Dr. Noa Ofen has been elected to include closing remarks from MPSI faculty membership in the prestigious Memory Dis- member Dr. Carolyn Dayton. Dr. Dayton re- orders Research Society (MDRS). Dr. Ofen is searches early parenting with a focus on the a cognitive neuroscientist working on lifes- father in urban settings. For more than 20 pan issues through MPSI and the Institute of years, she provided clinical interventions for families of infants Gerontology. MDRS professionals study memory and memory and young children in homes, centers and hospitals. The April disorders, through a range of basic and clinical research, to de- summit will outline short and long-term goals for childcare and termine how memory works and how it malfunctions. education in Michigan.

Speaking at the U.N. – MPSI postdoctoral APA Dissertation Award – MPSI trainee fellow Dr. Jennifer Gomez flies to Vienna this Laura Crespo won a monetary 2017 disser- spring to address the United Nations Com- tation research award from the American Psy- ‘ mission on Narcotic Drugs. She will discuss chological Association to help with the costs institutional betrayal, a key area of her re- of her project. This competitive award recog- search. Dr. Gomez was also appointed to nizes outstanding graduate students whose the editorial board of the Journal of Trauma & Dissociation and work shows extraordinary scientific promise. Laura studies how the student editorial board of Child Maltreatment, where she will fathers and other caregivers in low-income families promote their work with MPSI faculty member and consulting editor Dr. Valerie children’s regulation of emotion, behavior, thoughts and atten- Simon to review up to four manuscripts per year. tion.

Stellar Student Research – At Lifespan Alliance Research Day, students at both MPSI and the Institute of Gerontology explain their latest research projects and compete for prizes. This year’s projects looked at corporal punishment, sexuality, controlling diabetes, neuroscience networks, natural disasters, adolescent delinquency, financial exploitation of older adults and more. Judges awarded Best Paper Presentation, Best Graduate Poster and Best Undergraduate Poster. “It was an impossible task to pick just one,” admitted one judge. “The quality of everyone’s work was outstanding.” MPSI board member Ann Nicholson presented the awards. Britta Shine’s study of a brief screening measure of dysregulation in teachers in Ear- ly Head Start programs won Best Graduate Poster. The 24-item Teacher Care Patterns Questionnaire predicted teacher’s emotions, coaching and mindful awareness. It can provide valuable information to inform effective professional development. Zenaida Rivera won Best Graduate Paper Presentation for her 10-minute talk on Sexu- al Subjectivity in Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Emerging Adults. Her research found that the Sexual Subjectivity Inventory, long used to measure sexual self-concept in heterosexuals, was also a valid and reliable measure for lesbian, gay and bisexual persons age 18-25. Sanaya Irani, in the Ofen Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, won Best Undergrad- uate Poster for finding that larger hippocampal volume related to increased ability in From left: Shine, Irani and Rivera spatial navigation in childhood through young adulthood.

www.mpsi.wayne.edu 3 mpsi MERRILL PALMER SKILLMAN INSTITUTE,

be busy and not have time to talk about Dr. Skinner is recruiting Classroom from page 1 school,” Dr. Skinner said. “The diary gives 9th and 10th grade African American stu- teens a chance to think about their experi- its dynamics across place and time. dents who reside in metro Detroit ences and learn from them.” The Winding Road to Research to join YESS, the Youth’s Experiences in School Study. By her own admission, Dr. Skinner was Crossroads and Mentorship For more information please call: slow to realize that a career researching the 313-664-2508 or email As her career advances, Dr. Skinner wants intersection of race and gender in young [email protected] to continue to study the intersections of people would be her calling. She majored characteristics like race, gender, sexual in Africana studies and psychology at New The community is the foundation of identity and socioeconomics that cannot York University. In a class on Black psychol- Dr. Skinner’s research. “I am dedicated be fully understood in isolation. “We must ogy, certain voices in the literature sounded to including the perspectives, ideas and broaden our research to include this inter- identical to her own. “People spoke of expe- interests of the community in my academic sectional perspective,” she said. “I would riences in high school that sounded exactly work. Wayne State, especially MPSI with love for the work I do to lead the way.” like mine and highlighted the disparities in its emphasis on outreach, offers the ideal Part of leading is mentoring the next our school systems,” she said. Curious to environment for community engagement. generation of scholars, a role Dr. Skinner learn more, she soon found herself double- “My work can speak not only to other re- embraces. “I’ve had great mentors,” she checking transcriptions from research inter- searchers, but to residents. The community said. “And I know it can be more impact- views with students. The principal investi- informs the work and the results give back ful to have a mentor who looks like you. gator was Professor Niobe Way, a giant in to the community,” she said. My goal is to train upcoming scholars and the field of applied psychology. This was a The YESS project excites her because of provide opportunities they may not have turning point. “Hearing those voices, those its potential to improve academic achieve- otherwise.” She worked with a transfer stories of urban students of color was com- ment for Black youth. The diaries will reveal student in her Penn State lab who had pelling. In my senior year, I knew I wanted if boys and girls have different experiences no research experience, but was a moti- to go to graduate school.” in math and language arts classes. Do they vated and hard worker. With Dr. Skinner’s First, she needed research experience. She feel connected to their teachers and peers in guidance, the woman became a McNair became director of the Camille Cosby Girls those classes? Do they subscribe to the tra- Scholar, the competitive federal award pro- program in Boston that offers a wide array ditional stereotypes that boys are better at gram for first generation college students. of enrichment opportunities to improve math and girls are better at language arts? “The journey was difficult, but she got into girls’ resilience, well-being and academ- “We know that behavioral, cognitive and graduate school. It’s one of the things I’m ics. The program is part of the Judge Baker emotional engagement are tied to academ- most proud of,” Dr. Skinner said. Children’s Center, a free-standing mental ic outcomes like grades and test scores,” In addition to adolescents, research and health center affiliated with Harvard Medi- Dr. Skinner said. “Engagement is malleable. mentoring, Dr. Skinner loves hiking (“but cal School. As luck would have it, Dr. John If we can pinpoint where engagement is not in the winter”) and volunteering in her Weisz a clinical psychologist at Judge Baker, weak, it is a perfect target for easy, low-cost church. In graduate school, she helped de- needed a research assistant, and Dr. Skinner interventions. Change engagement and you velop her church’s children ministries pro- got the job. She worked on two projects in can change achievement.” gram and directed two children’s musicals. clinical psychology there, enough experi- Early responses to the diary method “I like volunteering because I can apply the ence to enter grad school at the University have been positive. Students enjoy the things I research to a real-world setting,” of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. chance to reflect on their day. “Parents can she said. “I enjoy giving something back.”

Share Your Memories In 2020, MPSI becomes a centenarian. We plan to celebrate with an exhibition of historical highlights and a symposium on child and family issues. We’d also like to compile assorted MPSI memories, and hope you can help. Were you a visiting college student who interned at Merrill Palmer for a semester? A faculty member who taught here? Were you a teacher in our Early Childhood Center or one of its preschoolers? Did your experiences at Merrill Palmer impact the person you became? Why was your time here special? SEND TO: Cheryl Deep, Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, 71 East Ferry Street, Detroit, MI 48202. You can also email [email protected] or phone her at 313-664-2607. 4 www.mpsi.wayne.edu The Freer House is home to MPSI faculty, administrative offices and meeting rooms

FREER HOUSE, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY | From Director William Colburn

Freer House Supporters Win Accolades Author and Curator Two long-time friends vation of Detroit history and architecture, Visits Freer House of the Freer House and including the Indian Village neighborhood, stalwarts of Detroit history , the and the and preservation received Masonic Temple. high honors from the Doug Peters received the Citizen’s Award Michigan Historic Preser- for championing and leading the preserva- vation Network (MHPN) BRUNK tion and restoration of the Frank J. Hecker this fall. Thomas Brunk, House (today’s Hecker-Tierney Alumni Ph.D., and J. Douglas House at WSU). The house was purchased Peters were honored for by the Charfoos & Christensen law firm as their significant contribu- offices in 1991. Doug, now retired from tions to the preservation the firm, managed the more than $1 mil- of the Freer House and the lion the firm invested in renovations. adjacent Hecker-Tierney Doug also made outstanding and sig- PETERS House. The duo was nificant contributions to the preservation recognized at the annual MHPN benefit of the Freer House and the Scarab Club, with 125 statewide leaders, professionals serving for years on the Freer House board, and supporters of historic preservation in and volunteering with the Detroit Institute attendance. of Arts conservation department, and Pres- Dr. Brunk received the Lifetime Achieve- ervation Wayne (now Preservation Detroit). ment Award for his 40 years of research, The Freer House and Merrill Palmer Skill- documentation and advocacy on behalf man Institute join MHPN in congratulating of the preservation of the historic Freer and thanking Doug and Dr. Brunk for their House. Dr. Brunk has also contributed years of invaluable support of the historic The Freer House was honored to re- extensively to the scholarship and preser- Freer House. ceive a visit recently from Lee Glazer, curator of American Art, Freer Gallery Once-in-a-Lifetime Art Exhibit of Art, Smithsonian, shown visiting Freer’s new courtyard garden. Lee is A unique one-day “pop-up” exhibition of art was hosted by the Freer House last author of a new book, Charles Lang November. The exhibition marked the Freer: a Cosmopolitan Life. She also first time in 100 years that original art supervised the recent reinstallation has been displayed in the building. of the American art collection at the Artist in Resonance: Hiroko Lancour at newly renovated , the House, featured Washington, D.C. more than 30 works by Japan born, De- troit based artist, Hiroko Lancour, who re- ceived her master’s in fine arts from WSU. Inspired by Freer’s interest in traditional Japanese and contemporary American art, Hiroko installed her art in each of the home’s former gallery rooms. The exhibi- tion attracted more than 250 visitors of all ages and backgrounds, including a special group tour for members of the Japan Business Society of Detroit. Japan Cultural Development co-spon- sored the exhibition, which the Detroit LANCOUR Institute of Arts designated an official tion with the opening of their new Japan “community partner event” in conjunc- Gallery the same weekend.

Learn about future Freer House events at https://mpsi.wayne.edu/freer 5 Non-Profit US Postage PAID Detroit, MI Permit #3844

The Freer House 71 E. Ferry St. Detroit, MI 48202 313-664-2500

2018 SPRING NEWSLETTER

WSU Board of Governors Michael Busuito Diane L. Dunaskiss Mark Gaffney Marilyn Kelly David A. Nicholson, vice chair Sandra Hughes O’Brien, chair Dana Thompson Kim Trent M. Roy Wilson, ex-officio

IMPRINTS | Editor/Writer - CHERYL DEEP, Graphic Designer - CATHERINE BLASIO www.mpsi.wayne.edu

Help a Teen Attend Giant Step Giant Step is the oldest, continuously run teen conference on diversity and inclusion in Michigan, reaching about 300 students each year. Trained facilitators foster discussion on topics like bullying, social status, acceptance, similarities and future plans. Within hours, prejudice and bias start to vanish. And It’s free! Would you like to help a teen attend? $50 sends one student to the conference held October 23 on Wayne State’s campus. The more money we raise, the more students we host. For more information email [email protected] or visit https://mpsi.wayne.edu/outreach/teen-conference

Name $50 each to Sponsor-a-Teen for a total of $_____ Full Address Sponsor a Table-of-Teens for Phone E-mail $350 CHECK payable to: WSU _ MPSI Giant Step Conference MAIL TO: CREDIT: Visa Mastercard Card # Giant Step Teen Conference Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute Exp. Date Sec. Code Amount $ 71 E. East Ferry Ave. Detroit, MI 48202 Signature For information visit: www.wsuecconsortium.org Or Donate Online at: https://commerce.wayne.edu/mpsi/giant-step-teen-conference.html